Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. (September 29, 2006)

WE LIKE HER FOR THISIs there a new lesbian in town on Law and Order: Criminal Intent? Dick Wolfe and company are trying awfully hard to make you think so with this week's introduction of Chris Noth's new partner Detective Maggie Wheeler, played by Julianne Nicholson (Conviction, Ally McBeal). From her short hair, enthusiasm for motorcycles, and no-nonsense attitude, to her unfazed response when a lesbian mechanic blatantly flirted with her in this week's episode, the writers have saddled her with almost every lesbian stereotype in the book. Which means either Wheeler really is gay, or they're trying to make a point about lesbian stereotypes. If it's the former, great! If it's the latter, I just have this to say: if you really want to dispel lesbian stereotypes, Dick, how about creating some actual lesbian characters to counter them? Ones that stick around longer than an episode. And no, Serena "Is this because I'm a lesbian" Southerlyn doesn't count.

IT'S ALL FUN AND GAMES UNTIL SOMEONE LOSES A KIDNEY Nip/Tuck's resident lesbian Liz (Roma Maffia) met a hot woman in a gay bar in this week's episode. They laughed, they drank martinis, they went back to her place to do the horizontal mambo. It was all going so well–until Liz woke up the next morning missing an internal organ. Damn, don't you just hate it when that happens?

TOP MODEL SHOCKER: MEGAN ELIMINATED, MICHELLE OUTED! Lesbian contestant Megan was eliminated from America's Next Top Modelthis week, after photos of her in a Pippi Longstocking-on-crack-hairdo failed to impress the judges. Interestingly, the show's editors revealed Megan's sexual orientation casually in this episode by showing her on the phone with her girlfriend, just the latest example of why Top Model is one of the gay-friendliest shows on TV. Want more proof? Megan told AfterEllen.com today that fellow contestant Michelle–the self-described "tomboy" twin–is also gay, and that "probably 5 out of the 13 girls are bi-curious". Read the full interview, and our episode recap.

CYNTHIA DOES HER PERSONAL BESTIn a new interview with New York magazine, Cynthia Nixon talks more about the press reaction to her coming out in 2004. "I was on the front page of two daily papers, there was paparazzi outside my house. My girlfriend had English press on her parents’ lawn. Every person she went to high school with got a phone call. They bought her yearbook. They almost put me on the cover of People magazine. And then it died. Because there wasn’t really anything to say. I can’t remember in what context they tell people this, but if someone is chasing you, stop running. And then they’ll stop chasing you.”

But the best part about this interview was the inclusion of an excellent cast photo from Little Darlings, the 1980 comedy about two girls (Tatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol) at a girl's summer camp who makes a bet to see who can lose their virginity first. In addition to co-starring a long-haired Matt Dillon as Nichols' object of affection, the film also features Nixon as a long-haired hippyish flower-child-type, who come to think of it, reminds me a lot of my ex-girlfriend Sarah. But that's a story for another day.